Applied Professional Credit???? i understand depths

[wonderjojo]

happy holidays all!

i have finally figured out depths but what are Applied Professional Credit?? talking about Excelsior.

i am going for a Bachelor in Liberal Arts, not decided BA or BS.

[marianne202]

You probably won't have any applied professional credits if you are going for a straight liberal arts degree. Applied professional credits are credits earned in coruse work directly related to your degree specialization. Example: I just finished my BS in health sciences, so all my previous medical related courses were considered applied professional credits such as my EMT course work, nursing exams etc. I hope this helps.

[irnbru]

happy holidays all!

i have finally figured out depths but what are Applied Professional Credit?? talking about Excelsior.

i am going for a Bachelor in Liberal Arts, not decided BA or BS.

Hi wonderjojo,

This is a good question and can mean the difference between a BA and a BS at Excelsior. A BA requires a minimum of 90 credits in 'Arts and Sciences' and up to 30 can be 'Applied Professional'. Meanwhile, a BS can be a 60/60 split between credits. For a Liberal Arts degree, there's nothing stopping you doing all 120 credits in the Arts and Sciences or some other mix.

Additionally, for a BA major, the 30 Upper level credits must be Arts and Sciences and for a BS there must be a minimum of 21 Upper Level credits.

The best way to understand which courses are Applied Professional is that they are courses which teach how to use particular parts of a body of knowledge in the real world and are NOT Arts and Sciences. For example, most business courses/exams (CLEP Intro to management/Intro to marketing), some types of criminal justice subjects and applied computing/tech subjects (DSST Management Information Systems is treated as AP by EC). A lot of military credits might be treated as applied professional.

Get a copy of the 'Student Guide to Credit by Examination' to see how EC might allocate CLEP/DSST and other exams.

In order to avoid any confusion, social science subjects like economics are treated as A&S as are some types of psychology courses which you might expect as part of say, a Criminal Justice or Nursing major. Political Science is also a 'type' of social science so a course like International Terrorism as part of a CJ major could be A&S credit, but other CJ courses might be AP. If a course were called 'Criminology' and focused on psychological/sociological material it would be A&S whereas if it focused on how different criminals are treated in a particular justice system and what processes that system used, it would probably be Applied Professional. If you're working with computers, the 'Information Systems and Computer Apps' CLEP is AP, as would be other certifications from CISCO, etc. However, if you had a course in Data Ethics or something more theoretical like Data Representation or Cryptography, that might be A&S. Straight-up business topics like accounting will obviously be AP If in doubt, you should always ask.

It does mean that a BS can provide more flexibility in credit options but it's up to you.

Hope this helps.

[BarbaraNM]

You probably won't have any applied professional credits if you are going for a straight liberal arts degree. Applied professional credits are credits earned in coruse work directly related to your degree specialization. Example: I just finished my BS in health sciences, so all my previous medical related courses were considered applied professional credits such as my EMT course work, nursing exams etc. I hope this helps.

Hi Marianne... I realize this is an old thread... I was curious, what was the number of applied professional credits granted to you by Excelsior for EMT course work? I've been a Paramedic for many years, and am looking at their Nursing program... but I came across your post. WOW! Very impressive number of courses in a fairly short time!

I would appreciate any advice you can give!

Barbara

[marianne202]

Hi Barbara, welcome to the forum. You will find lots of support and knowledge here. EC actually took all my old EMS coursework including refresher classes towards my degree. Those along with my nursing exams all ended up being applied professional. I was in EC's nursing program but quit after 5 out of 7 required exams, so those transferred. I have worked hard the last 3 1/2 yrs, but it has paid off. I just focused and set a plan. I hope this helps. Good luck!

[joanaday]

I have a question about the peterson test I have use it many times, but always have difficulty finding it. does anyone have the address?

[BarbaraNM]

Marianne, thank you SO much for the information... I will speak with Excelsior to see exactly how many credits they would be willing to grant for my ongoing CE for Paramedic... your progress is inspirational!